DIY Confusion and Misunderstanding

When it comes to pressure washing or soft washing your home, there’s a lot of confusion and misunderstanding — not just about how to clean it, but about what equipment, tools, and cleaning products to use. And the plethora of DIY videos out there aren’t exactly helping matters any.

Many people have been led to believe that if they just go buy an affordable pressure washer and some gimmicky store-bought cleaner, they can achieve the same or similar result as a professional cleaning company. That will never be the case.

Store-Bought Cleaners vs. Professional-Grade Solutions

Most exterior cleaning professionals use an algaecide that’s 10 to 12.5 percent sodium hypochlorite — the popular store-bought cleaners don’t even come anywhere close to that. While some of those products will technically work in the short term, any results they produce will be short-lived. Before you know it, you’re right back at the store buying another expensive bottle of cleaner that delivers far less than you were led to believe it would.

Nozzles, Tips, and Knowing When to Use Them

Then there’s everything else that goes into the cleaning process — knowing what tips and nozzles to use, and when, where, and how to use them.

Distance matters more than most people expect:

• Too far from the wall or siding surface, and the cleaning process takes longer than it should, or the surface simply doesn’t get sufficiently cleaned.
• Too close, and you risk damage that’s often entirely preventable with just a little extra care and precaution.

Every Surface Has Its Own Procedure

It’s vitally important for anyone engaging in exterior cleaning to understand the proper procedure for every surface they clean, in order to effectively do the job without causing damage.

A good example: the difference between washing an asphalt shingle roof using a soft-wash-only approach versus washing a metal roof, which can be washed using soft to moderate pressure only — never high pressure.

What determines the amount of pressure coming out of the wash gun or wash gun lance is the kind of tip or nozzle being used at any given time. At Washerworx, we use a broad range of tips and nozzles — also known as conversion tips/nozzles — so that regardless of what cleaning approach or procedure a job requires, we’re always ready and well-equipped to get after it.